Can Social Media Platforms Face POCSO Prosecution Over Child S*x Abuse Content? Supreme Court Agrees To Examine Plea
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Union government, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice, and asked the petitioner NGO, Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), to implead intermediaries in the case to ensure compliance with the court's 2024 judgment.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a plea seeking prosecution of social media and online platforms under the stringent POCSO Act for showing child s*xual abuse content and failing to report it to police. A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran issued notice to the Union government, through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Law and Justice, and asked the petitioner NGO, Just Rights for Children Alliance (JRCA), to implead intermediaries in the case to ensure compliance with the court's 2024 judgment.
Sections 19 And 20 Of POCSO Act Cited
Sections 19 and 20 of the POCSO Act make it mandatory for anyone who knows about a child s*xual offence to report it to local police, and the petitioner argued that this provision was also applicable to intermediaries, making them liable to be prosecuted for non-compliance. Can Husbands Be Prosecuted for Violent S*x With Wives Despite Marital Rape Exemption? Supreme Court To Decide.
Plea Filed Following BBC Report On Instagram Ads
JRCA, described as India's largest civil society network with over 250 NGOs working against child s*xual exploitation, child trafficking and child marriage, filed the application following a BBC report alleging that Instagram had carried paid advertisements promoting CSAM (Child S*xual Abuse Material).
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2026 08:16 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
